Bank robbery suspect tosses loot

September 23, 2008

A man charged with robbing a South Side bank apparently threw several thousand dollars' worth of stolen cash out into 35th Street, where some of it was snatched by passerby.

Tyrone Grant walked into the Shore Bank, 3401 S. King Drive, around 3:20 p.m. Monday and handed a note to a teller demanding money, according to a federal criminal complaint filed Tuesday. He later told investigators that the teller panicked and ran from the counter.

Grant then stepped to the adjacent teller's window, placed a knife with an orange handle on the counter and demanded money, according to the complaint. The teller placed $6,026 into a black bag Grant had with him.

Two armed security guards approached him with weapons drawn and ordered him to stop, but he was able to run out the north entrance, according to the complaint. One of the guards chased him west on 35th Street. Grant grabbed some money from his bag and threw it into the street, according to the complaint.

People ran into the street and grabbed some of the cash, the complaint says. Officers were unable to locate anyone who took the stolen money. Only $14 was recovered from 35th Street.

The pursuing security guard stopped Grant outside a White Castle restaurant at 35th Street and King Drive, where Chicago police officers took him into custody. They found an orange-handled knife nearby, and a black bag Grant had with him contained $2,248, according to the complaint.

Grant told investigators that he took a bus to his brother's Markham home, retrieved the knife and then took public transportation to Shore Bank, according to the complaint. He composed his stick-up note on the bus ride to the bank.